Qatar launches year-long labour protection drive

The Labour Inspection Department is checking violations by employers in a year-long campaign

The newly-established Labour Inspection Department at the Ministry of Labour has launched an extensive, year-long campaign for checking violations by employers across Qatar.

Speaking to Gulf Times, department manager Mohamed Saeed al-Naimi said that for inspection purpose, the country had been divided into 26 zones, with as many teams inspecting at least 100 businesses a month to check on employees’ health and safety, condition at labour accommodation and other benefits granted by the state’s laws.

“This is a year-long plan to check everything from accommodation to payment of salaries on time, and will end on July 1, 2010 covering the whole of Qatar,” al-Naimi said.

The campaign started on July 1 this year. Each team comprises a health and safety inspector, an official checking on salaries and records and a team leader who writes the final remarks.

With inward emigration continuing due to Qatar’s economic growth amidst the global recession, the Labour Ministry has been split into three departments: Labour Recruitment, Labour Inspection and Labour Relations.

“This shows the importance the government lays on protecting labour rights in Qatar.

In addition to the current campaign, there will be random checks on companies that are referred to us by the Labour Relations Department,” al-Naimi said. There are five, three-member inspection teams that can be sent out to make the additional checks.

“So a company could have just been inspected and we might reinspect it again to check its books and the employees’ condition.

There are more teams at hand to make emergency visits,” al-Naimi added. He said the number one complaint that the inspection department received was about delayed salaries.

“Inhumane” accommodation ranked second on the list. “As a matter of procedure, we warn the violators and suspend granting them new visas.

We also take up their RP (residence permit) renewal requests one by one to make it more difficult for them. We hope they learn to abide by rules after encountering these difficulties,” the official explained.

However, no company is “blacklisted” by the Labour Department as popularly assumed. The department merely rejects the application of defaulting employers for new visas.

“While granting requests for recruitment, we look at a long list of prerequisites; the size of the company, its capital, turnover, past record and so on.

“Our job is to ensure the Labour Law is being followed in the country by all companies. Suspending work at a site is an option.

But closing a company down will create a big problem. If we totally stop activities, the company will stop paying its labourers and there will be another bigger problem.”

Explaining the mission of his department, he said: “We are not here to break a company. We are here to prevent violation of rules and to protect everyone.”